ORLEANS TO HYANNIS: A bus rider’s observations

Thursday

"Dump the Pump" day, scheduled for June 19, is the day that the Cape Cod Regional Transportation Authority will entice residents to give their services a whirl at half price.

Weighing the CCRTA’s H2O line against a lone commute “Dump the Pump” day, scheduled for June 19, is the day that the Cape Cod Regional Transportation Authority will entice residents to give their services a whirl at half price. In advance of that, we thought it might be useful to test out one of the routes to let people know what to expect. On June 9 David Bailey, a page designer and production person here at the Patriot, rode to work and back to his home in Orleans on the CCRTA’s H2O (Hyannis to Orleans) line. His personal “Dump the Pump” day started with a 5:30 a.m. wake-up, a solid two hours before his usual, to catch the 6:35 stop by the CVS. In planning the trip, Bailey hit upon an area for improvement sought identified by riders in a recently completed survey: more frequent trips. Bailey would have liked a later start, both for sleeping and commuting purposes. His 8 a.m. arrival in Hyannis would be about an hour earlier than usual, but it was the only opportunity to get to work on time. The next bus out of Orleans would have him arrive at closer to 10 a.m., too late for a 9 a.m. start. It was one of the newer large buses with good A/C, which was very welcome considering it was already over 70º. His observations on the ride into Hyannis said that only a handful of riders, if that, sought out public transportation to ease their gas burden. Mostly they rode because they lacked their own transportation or needed a convenient ride to a distant school. Those observations line up well with the ridership study being conducted by the CCRTA to find cost and service improvements. The inbound ride was well air-conditioned; the ride home less so. Along with the added hour to each leg of the ride, that was among the bigger complaints. However, the buses were clean, inviting and very much on time. Attempts to track his ride in and back were stymied by blips in the CCRTA’s on-line GPS tracking system. For the morning ride, no buses showed. The bus back was also among the missing, though other routes were mapped. Each CCRTA bus has a GPS transponder that allows real-time tracking to see if the buses are on time or delayed. The Orleans-to-Hyannis run has fixed stops, but also works on a flex model, meaning people can flag down the bus at any point along the route. Several did along the route, both the board and depart. All passengers, regardless of where they get on, pay the same $2 fare. When the H2O arrived in Hyannis it was full up, and riders got off at different stops. Bailey chose to get off at the Sturgis Charter School stop with a number of students. The CCRTA carries a good number of students from east and west of schools in Hyannis, including Sturgis and St. Francis Xavier Prep. The bus arrived at all stops on time, impressive given traffic conditions and the number of people who flagged it down. Leaving Hyannis, Bailey took 5:20 p.m. bus to get back in Orleans at 6:50 p.m. There was a 6:20 p.m. bus, but it would have gotten in at 7:50 p.m., making for too long of a day. “If I had to work later into the evening, some other transportation would have to be arranged,” Bailey said. That sentiment was shared by fellow rider Rebbeca Burstein from Yarmouth. She described herself as a “car person” but has not been able to afford a car since she moved to the Cape. She depends on the bus for work in Hyannis, riding in two to three times a week. She has to turn down night work because the CCRTA schedule doesn’t provide evening service. “It makes it hard to run any kind of errand while in Hyannis,” she said. When asked what she would like to see changed she said, “more frequent and later buses.” That, too, is in keeping with the CCRTA’s ridership survey. The bus arrived on time in Orleans. On Tuesday, Bailey was back in his car, a Subaru Legacy wagon that gets nearly 28 miles to the gallon. At $4.099 per gallon, the 43.2-mile round trip cost him $6.55. When compared to his $4 fare there was a modest cost savings. When the additional two hours are considered for the round trip, though, the cost/benefit analysis doesn’t weigh in the H2O Line’s favor. As a side note, when parking it’s best to plan where shade will be in the afternoon, not as you arrive in the morning. The sun has a way of moving and cars have a way of heating up. Check the results of the Patriot Poll on public transportation

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